England’s 5-0 win over a San Marino team that is joint bottom of the FIFA rankings was routine, with Wayne Rooney scoring twice in his first competitive international as captain, while Italy beat Armenia 3-1 away and the Netherlands was a comfortable 3-0 winner over Andorra.

However, Euro 2012 semifinalist Portugal, led by Cristiano Ronaldo, couldn’t make the most of its dominance against Russia and lost 1-0 in a match between the top two teams in Group F.

IN MINSK, BELARUS Pedro Rodriguez scored three goals and set up another to give Spain a 4-0 victory at Belarus, as the world champions won their 24th straight qualifying match ahead of their critical clash with France.

Left back Jordi Alba got Spain rolling 12 minutes in from a pass by Pedro, who then doubled the visitors’ lead at Dinamo stadium in the 21st.

The in-form Barcelona forward added two more goals in the 69th and 72nd to seal the comfortable win.

“(Pedro) is playing very well for his club,” said Spain coach Vicente del Bosque. “Pedro is quick, dynamic, and with the aggressiveness in attack necessary to break with the mould of our short passing style.”

Spain now awaits France on Tuesday in a match that could be key to determining which side finishes top of the group and with automatic qualification for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Also in Group I, Georgia drew 1-1 at Finland.

Spain and France both have six points. Georgia is next with four. Finland has one, and Belarus has zero.

“France is an extraordinary team,” said Del Bosque. “They have forwards who can play the ball long, and they have added some fresh and physical powerful players. It will be a complicated game.”

Cesc Fabregas was tapped to lead the attack as he did in the final of this summer’s European championships, while Fernando Torres never left Spain’s star-studded bench.

With Gerard Pique and Carles Puyol unavailable with injuries, Spain coach Vicente del Bosque moved midfielder Sergio Busquets back to pair up with Sergio Ramos in the centre of his defence. The pair had a tranquil night against the 87th-ranked Belarus.

As expected, Spain dominated from the start, coming close twice before Alba opened the scoring.

Alba finished off a great team move started by Xavi Hernandez. The Barcelona midfielder passed to Pedro, who flipped on a back-heeled pass for club teammate Alba to round goalkeeper Sergei Veremko and fire home.

Pedro got his turn to make it 2-0 nine minutes later when he received David Silva’s through ball before chipping the ball over Veremko.

The Belarus keeper saved defender Egor Filipenko from scoring an own goal early in the second half.

But Spain continued its overwhelming domination, and Pedro doubled the winning margin with two goals in a three-minute span by twice more lifting the ball over Veremko.

Striker David Villa came on late and was close to adding a fifth goal for Spain with a shot that came off the post.

The last time Spain failed to win a qualifying match was in September 2007 when it drew 1-1 in Iceland.

Spain is seeking to win an unprecedented fourth straight major international tournament after repeating as European champions last summer.

Friday’s game was not televised in Spain after the producer, Sport Five, failed to reach a deal with any Spanish television channel. This was the first time a Spain match was not broadcast at home since 1983, when Spain visited Malta.

IN WEMBLEY, ENGLAND Captain Wayne Rooney scored twice as England beat an ultra-defensive San Marino 5-0 with a late flurry of goals against the world’s joint-lowest ranked team on a frustrating night for the hosts.

“To be in England’s top five goal scorers, I’m extremely proud,” Rooney said. “But I’m only 26 and I hope I can score a lot more.”

Rooney’s Manchester United teammate Danny Welbeck also scored in each half, while Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain completed the rout with his first England goal.

The one setback was Theo Walcott being taken to a hospital after colliding with goalkeeper Aldo Junior Simoncini early in the game.

The victory lifted England to top spot in Group H, although Roy Hodgson’s side has played a game more than Montenegro and Poland, who are both three points behind.

Despite the world’s fifth-highest ranked team being paired with the one joint bottom of the FIFA rankings, 84,654 packed into Wembley Stadium.

But a glut of goals looked unlikely in the first half.

“It’s never easy when 10 players are parked into the penalty area ... they didn’t have one strike at goal,” Hodgson said.

England’s first strike came in the third minute, when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s 25-yard effort was deftly tipped over by Simoncini, offering an early sign that it wouldn’t be so easy to break through San Marino’s defence.

England’s start was disrupted by the injury to Walcott, which led to the Arsenal winger being carried off and Aaron Lennon making his first England appearance since the 2010 World Cup.

England was in complete control, with all the action contained in the San Marino half.

The hosts’ quality close to goal, though, was distinctly lacking as they lacked creativity and verve.

Rooney was presented with two openings, heading over and wide, before Gary Cahill drilled a low shot at Simoncini after doing well to bring the ball down.

As England increasingly found its route to goal blocked by the tightly-packed defence, Oxlade-Chamberlain slammed the ball high over the crossbar and Rooney charged in with a diving header that went wide.

As the clock passed 30 minutes, with Michael Carrick hitting the crossbar and Welbeck sending the follow-up against the post, the opening goal looked increasingly elusive.

Then the breakthrough came to ease nerves inside Wembley after Simoncini tripped Welbeck and Rooney scored from the penalty spot.

Welbeck doubled England’s lead inside two minutes, flicking the ball into the net at the near post after the ball was cut back by Lennon.

The second half, though, started just as frustratingly as the first.

Cahill slid a shot wide on the volley from Rooney’s cross after making an awkward connection, Cleverly struck wide and Baines sent a free kick over.

It took until the 70th for the third goal to come as San Marino tired, with Lennon setting up Rooney to bend the ball into the net.

Welbeck was on target again two minutes later, clipping Tom Cleverley’s cross into the net at the near post, and Oxlade-Chamberlain grabbed the fifth in the 77th.

IN DUBLIN, IRELAND Marco Reus scored two first-half goals and Germany poured in four more after the break to sweep aside Ireland 6-1.

The Borussia Dortmund winger put the visitors in control by scoring in the 32nd and 40th minutes to silence the crowd at Dublin’s sold-out Aviva Stadium.

Germany then turned it into a rout in the second half, with Toni Kroos also scoring twice. Andy Keogh’s injury-time header from a corner provided Ireland’s lone score.

Ireland was without a half-dozen injured starters including striker Robbie Keane, and barely tested goalkeeper Manuel Neuer as it struggled for possession against the faster, better-organized Germans.

The lopsided loss heaped pressure on Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni, who has faced rising criticism following his squad’s wretched performance at the European Championship this summer.

The win put Germany atop Group C with nine points from three matches. Ireland remained third.

IN MOSCOW, RUSSIA Alexander Kerzhakov scored early in the first half to give Russia a 1-0 win over Portugal.

The Zenit St. Petersburg striker scored with a low shot past diving goalkeeper Rui Patricio six minutes into the game from a Roman Shirokov cross.

It was Russia’s only shot on goal in the first half. Portugal dominated possession for the rest of the match but failed to score.

Portugal had its first chance to equalize in the 15th minute but goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev blocked Bruno Alves’ header from a corner kick.

Portugal was then forced into an early substitution when Miguel Lopes came on for the injured Fabio Coentrao.

The visitors’ star forward, Cristiano Ronaldo, who had overcome a shoulder injury to play in the game, never came close in the first half though Nani constantly threatened the Russian defence on the right flank.

The Manchester United midfielder had his first attempt on goal in the 28th but shot over the bar.

Three minutes later Helder Postiga fired from inside the box but his shot was also too high.

Russia could have doubled the lead on a counterattack but Kerzhakov’s cross from the right sailed over the far corner of the net in the 33rd.

Nani and Postiga each had a chance later but Akinfeev blocked their shots.

Ronaldo also fired a free kick right into Akinfeev hands at the end of the first half.

Portugal continued its domination after the break and Ronaldo missed his best chance in the 58th when he was too slow to connect with Nani’s cross inside the box allowing defender Sergei Ignashevich to intercept.

“Maybe we weren’t as calm as we usually are,” Portugal coach Paulo Bento said. “Everyone can make mistakes, even the coach can make mistakes. We lost the ball a lot of times.”

With time winding down, Alexander Kokorin broke free but his shot was parried by Patricio. Shirokov was the first to the rebound but his shot went wide.

“It was a tough match, but today I’ve seen that team on the pitch which I saw at practice all this week,” Russia coach Fabio Capello said. “The players played with huge desire and commitment.”

With the victory, Capello continued his 100 per cent record in competitive matches as Russia’s new coach.

Russia scored nine goals and Akinfeev has not conceded in the three matches since the Italian manager took over.

The victory put Russia on top of the Group F standings with nine points from three games. Portugal is second with six points.

Russia next hosts Azerbaijan while Portugal will be at home against Northern Ireland on Tuesday. Israel and Luxemburg are also in the group.

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